Civil Voices of Turkey Came Together!

Civil society organizations in Turkey came together at the "Civil Voices Festival" in Istanbul on September 20-21. All colors and diversity of civil society met at the Civil Voices Festival. In the Festival, civil society representatives reminded that civil society is indispensable for democracy, for future and to overcome the crisis we are living in.

More than five hundred civil society actors gathered in the festival organized with the support of the European Union Delegation to Turkey. Synchronous  workshops were held at the festival which lasted two days with an intensive program. Al Farah Refugee Children's Choir, which is Turkey's first children's choir, also took the stage in the festival. In the Civil Cinema section, the activities of non-governmental organizations met with the participants of the festival.

Bilgi University Social Incubation Center, ETKINIZ EU Program, Memory Center and European Union Sivil Düşün Program introduced their support for non-governmental organizations in the festival, whereas organizations had the opportunity to explain their work at the stands.

The festival, held in Istanbul Uniq Hall, was inaugurated by KeKeÇa Body Percussion Group, and with the speeches of STGM Chairman Dr. Levent Korkut, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Presidency of the EU Financial Cooperation and Project Implementation Deputy General Manager Bülent Özcan, the Head of Operations of the European Union Delegation to Turkey Councillor Ambassador Andre Lys.

While two main sessions discussed civil society for two days, the session titled "Thanks to Civil Society" was moderated by Hürriyet Newspaper İpek Özbey.  Moreover, the Head of Operations of the European Union Delegation to Turkey Councillor Ambassador Andre Lys, the Humanitarian Aid Department Head of the Swedish Embassy Malin Stawe, the Country Director of Greece Gerasimos Kouvaras, Action Aid, the CSDC Founding Member Sunay Demircan gave speeches in the panel.

On the second day of the festival, the contribution of digital technologies to the development of the capacity of civil society and the problems it created were discussed under the title of "Technology for Civil Society". Data researcher Pınar Dağ, Mert Fırat from Map of Needs, Eamon Stack, the General Manager of Enclude which conducts important studies in the field of civil society, and Elif Doğan from Digital Heels were the speakers of the panel.

Civil Voices Festival also hosted the 13th Advisory Board of STGM.